


Defiant to the End We Hear the Call

by kajakauf013



Series: Marvel AU Collection [5]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Being Pinned/Crushed Under a Truck, Divorce, Family Issues, Gen, Kidnapping, Mentioned Violence Against Mutants, Paranoia, Precognition, Shadows - Freeform, Stalking, fake identity, guest appearance from Professor Xavier, mild anxiety, predatory behavior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 03:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12312792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kajakauf013/pseuds/kajakauf013
Summary: 20070605The beginning of a beautiful friendship, as well as some healthy paranoia concerning mysterious organizations who aren’t up to any good.





	1. Inheriting troubles

The sky was full of clouds as I drove along a winding road. It had been raining since I reached Seattle, but it decided to take a break as I approached my destination. In the distance I could make out a gorgeous home, more akin to a mansion than any house I had ever seen. It was only two stories, but it spread out to cover an impressive portion of that land it rested on. 

I became somewhat nervous.

~~~

That hadn’t been the case when I first found out that I would be sent off on a recruiting mission from the Professor, hell, I’d been ecstatic. 

He’d heard increasingly frequent reports about attacks on fledgling mutants and their detainment by unknown agencies, and had become highly concerned. He sent out multiple recruiters in an attempt to reach these mutants before more of them went missing, and I was here in an effort to help. 

Getting to this point hadn’t exactly been easy. 

It took almost half of May to set up my new identity in order to fly legally from New York to Washington, because apparently it’s highly suspicious if a dead person wants to fly across the country. Who knew? 

So now my name is officially Kajak Greystone, and I have the falsified paperwork to prove it! 

But, more importantly, it had taken until May for the Professor and myself to agree that I was fully capable of defending myself and possibly my recruit if necessary. Sure, my training is nowhere near complete and I have a lot to work on still, but I know that I’m fully capable of defending myself and others incase something goes wrong.

It had been a stress free flight and was also turning out to be a relaxing drive as well. I had gotten away from downtown Seattle faster than expected and was soon driving past beautiful picturesque views of the rivers that surrounded the area. 

I’m drawing closer to what is called Clyde Hill, which is a community of moderate to extremely prosperous families. It’s no where near as crowded as inner Seattle, with even the smaller homes having a respectable plot of land. 

The address that I’m looking for is very, very respectable in that aspect.


	2. It’s a Welcoming Atmosphere, But it’s a Little Too Welcoming

I turned into a short bit of road that rested outside the main gate and pull up to a freestanding intercom. I pause for a minute to look ahead of my car. The gravel drive that leads up to the house (mansion) goes on at least for a mile and is flanked by tall maple trees. I can see the front door of the house, and the second story, but the rest is carefully hidden behind even more trees. 

Oh, this is going to be so awkward, fun fun fun.

I’m about to press on the intercom, ready to apologize for being about an hour earlier than had originally been agreed on, but the front gate opened of it’s own accord. I carefully scanned the area, there were no visible security cameras and there wasn’t any sign of movement near me or from the house as far as I could tell. 

Well, that’s not creepy or anything. Totally normal. Right.

I slowly drove up the gravel lane, keeping an eye out for, well anything. 

Had I not been so thoroughly creeped out I would have enjoyed how the shadows and muted sunlight filtered through the trees. The end of the drive was soon in sight, the trees clearing away to reveal the main house. 

Oh, did I forget to mention how freaking huge it is? No? Well, I’m going to say it again anyway, because holy crap.

The front door would clearly dwarf my tiny frame once I stood next to it. To the right of the door the mansion extended the length of an average home, to the left doubly so. Further to the left, but not attached to the main building, was a carriage house that looked like it was being used as a garage. What I had assumed to be the second floor from the entrance was, from what I could see, just a stairway leading up to the actual second floor which went even further up. 

I was in awe, to say the least.

What kind of family lives here you might ask? 

Well, according to their file, quite a respectable one. They are the Calloway family. The parents were both successful business executives from Spain, they had worked all their lives to build up their small business and had seen it flourish magnificently. 

They traveled around the world for their work almost constantly, and had decidedly bought homes in many of the various countries that they visited most often. How many they had was unknown. 

They had three children who they took with them on their business ventures, and as a result each of the children were born in different countries but maintained various dual citizen visas.

The family member whom I had come to recruit was the eldest, and from what I understood of her (at least from talking on the phone) was that she was excited to come and study at the Xavier Academy. She evidently developed her mutant abilities at a very young age but due to her hectic travel schedule had not had the opportunity to see what she was capable of. 

She was, if I remember correctly, one year older then I am, and had used her parents’ success to her full advantage. She had completed multiple degrees in Universities worldwide, and was fluent in French, Spanish, and English. She had a formidable background, but seemed friendly enough.

I took a deep breath and got out of the car.

I approached the monstrously proportioned door and raised my hand to knock. My knuckle didn’t even graze the door before it was jerked violently open by the person behind it.

It was not who I expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you’re wondering, the house being described does exist. I have physically been there, it is beautiful, and I will never shut up about it. It is no where near Seattle though, but it exists. You’re going to have to either accept that or just ignore me when I gush over it.


	3. Awkwardly Standing There is Completely Realistic

The person holding the door open, bouncing up and down on her heels like an excited child, was clearly not the eldest of the Calloways. 

She was a tiny thing, smaller than myself, with energy coming off of her in waves. She was clothed in some sort of frilly thing that I believe was originally meant to be a demure dress, but had been added to. It gave off the look of adorable eccentricity that only it’s owner could be capable of pulling off properly. She had a lovely tanned complexion and hair so colorful and shiny that I couldn’t tell if it was real or a wig. 

But what caught my attention the most were her eyes. They were a deep red, though they appeared to glow brilliantly in the sunlight.

She continued to bounce for a moment as I stood their in silence taking it all in, smiling brightly as she did so. I lowered my hand, which had been hanging in the air awkwardly, and she began to speak.

“Oh, we have been waiting sooooo long for you to arrive! I’m just so happy you’re here, we have many things to discuss!”

I was about to say that I was sorry for being so early, but I couldn’t even get the words out before she grabbed my arm and (with a strength that I hadn’t expected) pulled me into the mansion and closed the door behind me.

I stood there for a second trying to decipher what she had just said before I was, yet again, awestruck by where I was standing.

Directly in front me was a grand piano next to an L-shaped couch nestled in the corner underneath a beautiful wooden staircase. To my right there was a closed door, to the left was a hallway that seemed to go on for eternity. 

Every five feet or so were arched windows that rivaled the door in size and there were multiple pathways leading further into the heart of the mansion. At the end of the hall, just barley visible, was what appeared to be a formal dining area. I couldn’t see how many it would seat, but judging from the ornate carvings on the visible chair, there was at least room for ten.

I was quickly whisked down the hallway by my tiny captor, barley-having time to appreciate what I had already glimpsed. She took the first right that we came to and pulled me into the center of the room. 

It was square in shape with a tall fireplace directly opposite from where we entered, tall windows on either side. There were three sizable couches strewn about the room angled to face a large flat screen in the center of the right hand wall. A small intricately carved door was set off to the side, I could smell the wine from where I was standing, along with what was probably a concealed bartending area.

There left hand side of the room opened up to a large kitchen and informal dining area, visible yet separated by a half wall in between two walkways. I looked up to see a massive chandelier directly overhead, hanging from the highest point in the ceiling, There were loft views from the second floor down into the living area, increasing the grandeur of the place.

A woman walked into the room from the dimly lit kitchen, and she was in every aspect the opposite of my current companion. 

Tall and mysterious, her heels clicked on the wooden floor as she approached. She had on a long and flowing skirt and a deep red buttoned shirt. Her hair was long and ombre, going pitch black to bright red at the tips. She was olive yet pale, had both dark eyes and lips.

She smiled as she walked into the light.

“Hi, oh. I’m so sorry. Evie, how many times do I have to tell you to not do that! You don’t know your own strength, you could rip someone’s arm off doing that, seriously.” She smiled at the young lady, still clutching my arm, who responded unabashedly:

“I know, I know, I’m just so excited! We’ve waited years to finally find this one!” She finally released my arm from her vice like grip, I hadn’t noticed that my arm had started to go numb from the lack of blood flow.

“Wait a second, what do you mean years? I only contacted you about the Academy a few days ago.” I hurriedly asked, feeling even more out of place. Just being in the same room as the two of them felt like being a third wheel, their long friendship was evident.

“Aww, Willow, you didn’t tell her about me?” Said, apparently, Evie with a slight pout.

“I was going to let you be a surprise, you’re kind of hard the explain over the phone anyway. There is a lot to discuss, so the sooner we can start the better.” Turning to me she said, “Ms. Greystone, this is Evie Viteri, and as you have surely guessed I am Willow Calloway. To explain what Evie meant, for the moment, we saw you heading our way. But before we get any further into it, would you like a cup of tea?”

I accepted the offer as we all headed into the kitchen where Willow already had a kettle boiling on the stove. The layout of the kitchen mirrored what I had already seen of the home. 

Many cabinets lined the walls, the counters shined of marble. A six burner stove was setup along the same wall as the refrigerator, there was an island dedicated to prep space and a large sink, while another was made to be an organizational space with three raised sides to create an almost-desk. A butlers kitchen was visible through a doorway facing the front of the house whilst a small table for four was set up towards the back of the property. 

With floor to ceiling windows the view of the deck and subsequent pool was magnificent in the afternoon sun, which had finally decided to drive the clouds away. 

As Willow poured the steaming water into individual cups Evie hopped up onto a barstool that had been hidden on the other side of the second island. I followed her over and took a seat myself. Willow brought over the tea and positioned herself across from Evie and myself, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Oh. Where to begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such a beautiful house, though when I saw it most of the furniture was gone. (Not the piano though, it was marvelous) Divorce is not a good thing when it comes to furnishing houses.
> 
> Also, you can read more about Evie and Willow in my Character Profiles document which goes into more detail about their back stories as well as what else they will be capable of in the future.


	4. Well Here’s Your Answer in Spades

Our conversation, once started, seemed to go on forever and it wasn’t until nightfall that everything was finally settled. To begin with, I only had a basic idea of Willow’s powers. Some were known to Professor Xavier, but the rest of it wasn’t exactly safe to communicate over any device that could possibly be spied upon. 

Due to Willow’s parents highly public business affairs she had decided to be extremely discreet about her abilities since she was very young. Starting around the age of five Willow had been able to see the connections between people. It had started out simply enough, one day she had been concentrating on something when she looked towards some of her family members who had been visiting over holiday. 

She described seeing something akin to threads tying everyone together, some were red, some blue, but everyone normally had at least one string that was bronze. As she was watching the scene, one of her aunts said something to her husband, when something happened. The pink thread that had been connecting them to each other suddenly snapped and faded to from sight. Neither her aunt or uncle reacted on the surface, but Willow could sense that something major had passed between them. 

She, being so young, later asked her parents if her aunt and uncle were going to get a divorce. Her parents became worried, and reassured her that no such thing was going to happen. But of course, a few months later they were separated and filing for divorce.

After that happened Willow had started to notice that the more she concentrated on others, the more threads she could see. With practice she could, at a glance of a crowded place, see who were family members, lovers, enemies, even those who were entirely alone had their own brightly colored strings that stretched across the horizon. She soon realized that the vibrancy of each thread dictated how strong the emotions behind each strand were, and how quickly they could change.

As she grew older she became better at controlling when she saw things, now only having to catch a glimpse of someone to use her ability. When she was eleven years old she happened to meet Evie, and they were friends from the start. According to Willow as soon as Evie approached her one day in school she chanced a look at her with her powers and saw a bright silver thread form between the two of them, the color that she had come to understand to represent long lasting friendship. 

But Evie’s recollection of the first day they met was even more enlightening. Evie’s ability had been apparent, though not detected, since she was a baby. 

Upon meeting a person for the first time, she could see everything that they would become to her. Now, that sounds like it would be hard to hide that reaction with her being so young, but it actually wasn’t. Evie’s parents simply attributed it to being a knee-jerk reaction to strangers, how sometimes she would immediately take to them or start screaming to get away from them.

Evie’s talent let her pick and choose those people who would play an important role in her life, especially when it came to positive relationships. According to Evie, when she first looked at Willow, she saw the two of them becoming friends and maintaining that friendship until the day they died. 

Which is kind of intense when you think about it.

And to think that there’s even more to these two. 

Yes, you heard me right, there’s more.

When Evie was only seven she discovered that she was stronger than the average child, hell, she was more powerful then the most adult men. She had been playing outside while her father had been working on his truck. The jack came loose and he wound up pinned underneath it, Evie lifted it off of him without breaking a sweat. Her parents attributed it to adrenaline or something, but Evie knew that wasn’t it. Evidently she can now lift a bus with ease, but hasn’t exactly shown off this particular skill to anyone other that Willow.

Willow’s other ability isn’t as flashy as Evie’s, but is still impressive, though hard to describe. Shortly after she met Evie, Willow realized that she could control her shadow. 

That might not seem impressive, but just wait, it’s worth it. 

It started of subtly at first. Some kid had been rude to one of Willow’s friends in the cafeteria, this made Willow rather angry. 

Before she realized what was happening her shadow shot out from under her and sped towards the kid. Now, don’t worry, the kid didn’t get badly injured. Her shadow hit where his foot connected with the linoleum and he tripped forward onto his lunch tray. The kid was thoroughly embarrassed and Willow’s anger was abated, but that made her even more curious about what she’d done.

After years of practice she’d gotten much better at controlling her shadow before she had discovered yet another aspect of her ability. 

One night she had been at a park of some kind with her family when she got separated. She was sixteen at the time, so she wasn’t too concerned about it, that was until she realized that a creepy looking guy was following her. She became nervous, after another thirty minutes passed she became scared. Thinking she could get away from the creep she headed for what she thought was a shortcut, but it turned out to be a dead end.

Willow shrank against the wall that trapped her and found herself wishing she was invisible, wanting to blend into the shadows. She saw the creep enter the alley and stop a few feet in front of where she stood, a puzzled expression on his face. It took her a few seconds to realize that something about him looked off, in her panic she hadn’t realized that he had lost all color.

Not as if he had become pale, he looked like he had walked right out of a black and white movie. 

As she looked around she noticed that everything else was the same, the ground, the sky, the walls, everything was just shades of grey. While she stood there in confusion, the creep gave up and wandered off. Once he left Willow she again set out in search of her family, as soon as she spotted them joy leapt in her heart. She didn’t see exactly when the color returned, but as she approached her family they greeted her like always. 

It wasn’t until a few days later that she fully grasped what had happened, and a few months passed before she started experimenting with what she had dubbed the ‘shadow world’. She was still struggling to travel between the two worlds, trying everything to find out exactly what emotion has to be triggered to get it to work properly.

The prospect of fully realizing her potential is what had piqued her interest in attending Xavier’s school in the first place, because she had never heard of it before I had called a few days ago.


End file.
